Macworld macro photo contest winners

For the latest Macworld photo contest we asked you to get closer than usual to your subject of choice, and then send in your best macro shots. Here are the winners of the contest along with some of our favorite entries.

Meet the Winners

First we gave you our best macro photography tips, then we asked you to share your best shots. We received hundreds of entries into this Macworld photo contest. Our editorial interns narrowed down the pool and then Macworld staff voted on their favorites.

There were only three winners for this contest, but we couldn't resist sharing some of the other amazing macro shots we received. Enjoy!

First Place: Ken Piorkowski

"The basic idea behind the water drop collision is to have two drops separated by a few milliseconds dropped into a container of water. The trick is to get the second drop to hit the first drop head on as it is rebounding back up out of the water. This produces the splash. The bubble is blown straight on to the water and moved under the water drops, which go right through the bubble."

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens

Lights: Two Speedlites with colored gels

Aperture:f/22

Exposure time: 1/2 ("The camera's shutter is set to 1/2 a second and the speedlites act as the only source of light. At 1/32 power, I'm getting an effective shutter speed of about 1/20000 of a second.")

Second Place: Maryann Flick

"I added a 20mm extension tube to a 50mm lens on my camera for this shot of the caterpillar stage of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly."

Aperture: f/11

Exposure time: 1/5

Third Place: Amanda Carta

"I was walking the yard as I do a lot in the Summer and Spring to capture some bug macros. It's my favorite thing to photograph. They are very curious creatures, especially when you can manage to get close with the camera. I think they like seeing their reflection in the lens. This smaller Blue Dasher dragonfly was following me. It stayed still long enough for several shots and I was able to get just what I wanted."

Camera: Canon XSI

Lens: 100mm macro lens

Aperture: f/9.0

Exposure time: 1/200

Holly McPhail

"My family and I went on a hike up to Wallace Falls on a rainy day. I took this photo by getting as close as possible while making sure the rain drop did not fall and was still in focus. I used the macro setting on my Sony point-and-shoot."

Camera: Sony DSC-T200

Aperture: f/3.5

Exposure time: 1/100

Ricky L. Mensch

When I took this photo I was only concentrating on the bee. I never even took notice of the little Mites that were on the flower with it.

Camera: Sony SLT-a55v

Lens: Sigma 105mm Macro Lens

Aperture: f/8

Exposure time: 1/100

Evan Schmitt

"This is a close-up image of a grape being struck by a BB at high velocity. The exposure time is roughly 1/20000 second, with a single off-camera flash directly above."

Camera: Nikon D90

Aperture: f/18

Michael Doliveck

"I used a macro lens on my Canon 7D to take this photo of dew on an orchid. I tried to get the reflection of the other orchid flowers in the drop of water. It was quite difficult to get the right angle, distance, and lighting."

Camera: Canon 7D

Aperture: f/9

Exposure time: 1/5

Rachel Kimball

"I was sitting in the middle of a meadow on Grandfather Mountain in Linnville North Carolina when I looked over and saw this amazing little bug. So I whipped out my trusty little Canon S95 from my pocket and began a 15 minute photo shoot with the bug. My camera was having trouble focusing on it so I had to switch to manual focus. I was so pleased to see the tack sharp images. What a wonderful camera!"

Camera: Canon PowerShot S95

Aperture: f/4

Exposure time: 1/640

Dan Bergstrom

"I took this image of a European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula) last year with my Canon 40D. I used a $30 homemade macro lens that is just an old Canon FD lens reverse mounted on a PVC pipe. There was a wasp nest under my gas grill that I ended up photographing all summer (I didn't have any grilled burgers last year)."

Camera: Canon 40D

Aperture: f/30

Exposure time: 1/250

Adi Mulawarman

"I bought my wife a bouquet of flowers and, as usual, took lots of pictures. This one turned out to be one of my favorites."

Camera: Nikon D70

Aperture: f/32

Exposure time: 1/20

Kelsey Coleman

Kelsey Coleman took this image of a frog at her family's cabin outside of Memphis on a Sony DSC-W150.

Camera: Sony DSC-W150

Aperture: f/4

Exposure time: 1/80

Susan Pigott

"I found this damselfly who was more than happy to let me take pictures of him. He sat like a supermodel (without the flipping of hair), moved occasionally so I could get different perspectives, and, seemingly, smiled for the camera. He was wonderful!. To take the photo I started a bit of a distance away, gradually moving closer and closer, trying not to scare the damsel. He let me get around six inches away from him."

Camera: Nikon D90

Lens: Nikkor 105 mm Micro Lens

Aperture: f/14

Exposure time: 1/400

Virginia Moore

Virginia shoot this photo of a lotus blossom in her fishpond in Falls Church, VA with a Canon PowerShot G2.